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The sun was coming up now,.. Joe had found himself standing on what appeared to be the roof of the castle.. The last thing that he could remember, was going down stairs.. "I hate this place.." He let his words fade as the sun slowly crept up in the distance.. How long had it been since such purifying light had graced these lands? As Joe turned to look away, it was then he found himself in another -small- mystery.. For there were no steps from where he had last came.. None going up the way he had somehow manage to come from, nor the logical direction that he should have come from.. "..What's going on?" When he turned back around to face the sun, the mountains that were there before, were no longer.. "Wait a minute!" He ran toward the edge of the castle, red in the face with anger, "There's no way they can just--.." His rant stopped short as he found the terrain around him shifting with his every movement.. "What in the name of God is going on here..?" He peered over the side for just a moment, but there was no light reaching below the top of the castle. Then as he looked up,.. the sun started to bleed down through the sky.. "W-what?" Closing his eyes tightly, Joe forced a single step backwards.. It felt like the castle was beginning to pulsate under his feet.. His left hand quickly slammed into the side of his head as he tried to force out the registration of the events around him.. His right hand slid its way into his coat, find and retrieving a small clear crystal which he gripped tightly as he brought his hand up in the air.. "..I've had enough of these illusions!" He threw the crystal down as he struggled out the words.. The shards of the crystal scattered into the air after it shattered on impact.. There were no sound for several minutes, but he could feel the castle begin to slow in movement.. he could feel the sky return to normal.. Finally, he could hear the wind slowly start to pick up.. birds could barely be heard from below. When Joe finally let his eyes open, what he saw next, could possibly be the scariest and most beautiful thing to have existed.. At first it was only clear blue skies, so he let his eyes slowly shift downward: He could see the whole Netherworld.. Only it was not the dark domain that Adrastia has claimed as her own.. It was believed.. or rather, as Joe saw it from his readings, that the Netherworld was the first "Heaven," and that is exactly what he saw before him.. Where there had once been "forests" of dead and dying trees, he saw before him an almost storybook like forest.. Dozens of birds flew from tree to tree.. The water was reflecting the light of the sun, looked purer than any he had ever seen.. Staring down, the whole land almost appeared to be a model, too perfect to be true. His body shifted slowly, as he reached out at the scene of perfection beyond him... "Joseph!"" Reality quickly came flooding back to him, he could finally perceive the miles that stood between him and the ground.. But he actually found himself more entranced.. "I've.. never seen.. anything.. It's so far down.. so high.." "Joe!! Stop!" It was too late for the words to register, he had already lost himself and was falling forward.. He threw his arm back weakly, in what he thought to be a vain attempt at saving his life.. Someone had grabbed his arm, pulled him back before it was too late. As he lay there on his back, heart pounding, and breathing heavily.. He knew no one was here with him, but.. "That.. voice.. Tia..?" When things had finally slowed back down, and he could find the energy to sit up, Joe had found himself finally back on the roof of the castle.. Thing's were as they should be here, no sun, no life, just the moon and shadows.. It was with a heavy sigh that Joe had found himself staring at the stairs that would lead him back to his search.. He wasn't sure if Tia was really missing or not at first, doubt was something that plagued him about everything in life, this was no different.. and still he wasn't sure what was going on to cause the castle to change so much.. That didn't matter though, first he'd find Tia... and then he would maim the castle..
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